


Colours

by Duckydash13



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Planet, F/M, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duckydash13/pseuds/Duckydash13
Summary: The Doctor manages to land where he is meant to for once, but something is wrong. The once-beautiful colours of Conurbos have disappeared, merging into a bland grey. The Doctor and Rose take it upon themselves to find out what is wrong and return colour to the planet.





	Colours

He pulled her into his arms and murmured in her ear. With that, the street burst into colour. Thousands of glorious colours, some of which Rose had never even seen before. This was suddenly the antithesis of the concrete jungle that the TARDIS had landed in three hours ago. It was fantastic.

 

***

 

The Doctor had been telling Rose about the beauty of the cityscapes in Conurbos while he was repairing some of the less vital components of the TARDIS that morning and, once they’d had lunch, had immediately set the coordinates to take them there. They’d both agreed she needed to experience the city first-hand. When he opened the doors, he thought he must’ve gotten the coordinates wrong – but everything told him he was on Conurbos, even in the same month he had intended to land.

“I don’t understand it, Rose,” he said while they walked down a dismal grey street between dismal grey skyscrapers, “This whole place should be beaming with colour! Something’s wrong. And it’s not my piloting this time, so don’t you go saying anything.” He had a grin on his face, but Rose could still tell that something serious was going on.

The Doctor was even more worried when they came across the planet’s inhabitants. A group of five creatures stood in the entryway to one of the buildings. They were the same grey tone that covered the buildings, the roads, the vegetation – even the sky. Slightly tentatively, they approached the locals. They seemed peaceful enough, almost apathetic, as they stood together in silence.

“Hello!” The Doctor greeted, grinning sheepishly, “I’m The Doctor and this is Rose. We were just wondering; do you know who’s in charge around here?”

The grey lifeforms stared at them. One blinked, slowly.

“The Price and his elected Council are of course the authority on this planet,” another of them intoned blankly. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance, worried and curious.

“Are you okay? Is the government- The Prince or whatever, are they hurting you?” Rose addressed her question to the alien who had spoken before.

“We are grey,” the group replied in unison.

***

It took them only half an hour to gain an audience with the Prince, as it turned out they had landed in the capital city. The Prince and his Council, which consisted of four similar aliens, were just as grey as everything else that they had seen on the planet, and almost as apathetic as the other creatures they had encountered. They sat on elegant grey chairs in the centre of a large grey hall and motioned for The Doctor and Rose to enter.

“It is said that you have requested an audience with us,” the Price said.

“Yep, that’s us, requested an audience,” the Doctor confirmed with a nod.

“Why?” A council member asked this.

“You’ve got a problem,” the Doctor answered simply. The aliens stared blankly at him.

“He’s right! Everything’s all, you know… grey,” Rose backed him up.

“This is correct,” the Prince said, “You can help?”

“We can try. If you let us,” the Doctor replied. The Prince glanced around his Council, three of whom visibly nodded. The Prince stood and approached The Doctor.

“What do you require? Anything within my Council’s power is yours if you can truly help us.”

***

In the end, it was both simpler and more complex than The Doctor had anticipated. Once Rose had discovered the aliens were empathic, it was obvious to him. Obvious because he’d seen it before, although not on such a scale. Obvious because he saw it in himself, still sometimes, on the worse days. A simple cause, but no simple fix.

***

“So, something happened in your off-world delegation?” the Doctor confirmed, “And now you’re what, ashamed? Guilty? Helpless? …Alone?” All the confirmation he needed was in the Prince’s eyes. “And cos you’re the most powerful person on the planet, the most influential, you’re the supreme influence on the empathic field.” Again, The Doctor paused to check his theory. He received a shaken nod from the Prince.

“Easy,” he pronounced, “What you need is a Rose.”

***

Privately, he explained to the Prince that what he needed was not a literal rose, either the person or the flower, but someone he could talk to, who made him feel more like himself, who could reassure him he wasn’t alone, even on those days when everything still seemed grey. Someone to share the burden with, instead of placing it on a planet that couldn’t understand it. Someone to remind him he was worth saving.

“Does your Rose know?” the Prince had asked. The Doctor looked at him, confused. The Prince shook his head as the Time Lord’s eyes widened in understanding.

“You tell your Rose; I will find one of my own. I think I already know where to look.” He gave a small smile.

“Right, yes. Good luck.”

“You too, Doctor. And thank you.”

 

***

 

As the world lit up in colour, with Rose in his arms, The Doctor knew things would be okay. The grey was still there – it wasn’t gone yet – but there was so much more. The colours had returned.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading; any comments would be appreciated.


End file.
